17 Incredible Water-Related Facts You Should Know

Water is pretty fascinating, and we’ve been talking a lot about it lately. This week we thought you’d like to discover a whole host of information about water, all in one neat little shot. It might change your perspective, and if nothing else, give you some useful knowledge to pull out at the dinner table or your next round of trivia. Enjoy!

1. Water is the only natural substance that can exist in all three states — liquid, solid and gas
2. The Earth’s temperature is regulated by water.
3. The human brain is 70% water.
4. 7% of the freshwater on Earth is trapped in glaciers, and 30% of freshwater is in the ground.
5. Antarctica contains over 90% of the world’s freshwater supply.
6. 97% of the Earth’s total water supply is actually the salt water in oceans and seas.
7. It can take up to 2,700 litres to produce the cotton needed for a single t-shirt, and 2,900 gallons of water to make a single pair of jeans.
8. A loaf of bread takes approximately 240 gallons of water to produce, a pound of cheese takes approximately 383 gallons, and a single pound of beef averages 1800 gallons of water. On the other hand, 1kg of potatoes only takes 75 gallons. An apple? 18 gallons. A pint of Beer? 20 gallons. And can you guess the water footprint of 1kg of chocolate? It’s a whopping 4543 gallons!
9. One litre of biofuel takes between 1,000 and 4,000 litres of water to produce.
10. In fact, the food we eat takes up more than two thirds of our total water footprint, with agriculture in the U.S alone accounting for 80% of all water consumed.
11. Feeding an average family of four in the developed world takes about 6,800 gallons of water.
12. Household leaks in the United States can waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water annually.
13. Also in the U.S, approximately 400 billion gallons of water are used every day. Want to know your country’s water footprint? You can find it here:  http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/national-water-footprint-explorer/
14. Water use has been predicted to increase by 50% from 2007 to 2025 in developing countries, and 18% in developed ones. Essentially, each year freshwater demand is increasing by 64 billion cubic metres.
15. 780 million people don’t have access to an adequate water source, and 80% of all illness in the developing world is water related.
16. Women across the world spend 200 million work hours a day collecting water for their families.
17. The UN projects that two thirds of the world’s population will face water scarcity by 2025.

That’s all folks! Pretty amazing right? Maybe a little scary? If you’ve got any more interesting water-related facts to share, write them in the comments! And if you want to help reduce your water footprint, check our recent blog for tips:

References:

http://www.gracelinks.org/1361/the-water-footprint-of-food

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jan/10/how-much-water-food-production-waste

http://waterfootprint.org/en/resources/interactive-tools/national-water-footprint-explorer/

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainable-fashion-blog/2014/sep/04/10-things-to-know-water-impact-fashion-industry

http://www.seametrics.com/blog/water-facts/

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6124627/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/things-you-didnt-know-about-water/#.Wupd-ojwbIU

https://www.ecowatch.com/world-water-day-10-facts-you-probably-dont-know-about-water-but-should-1881713816.html

https://www.ecowatch.com/world-water-day-10-facts-you-probably-dont-know-about-water-but-should-1881713816.html

https://www.water-io.com/25-facts-about-water

http://ecoloodi.org/en/water-facts/

https://www.odi.org/publications/10886-10-things-know-about-future-water-and-sanitation

http://www.circleofblue.org/2009/world/infographic-ten-things-you-should-know-about-water/